Driving-gear for motor-vehicles.



A. R. GORRINGTON, v DRIVING GEAR FOR MOTOR VEHICLES. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14, 1909.

944,600. Patented Dec.28, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

A. R. GORRINGI'ON.

DRIVING GEAR FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

' APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14, 1909.

Patented 090.28, 1909 2 SHBETSSHEET 2.

UNITED STATPEFEFENT cr mes.

I ALDON R. CORRINGTON, 0F HARTLEY, IOWA/ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO G. E.

KNAACK, 0F HARTLEY, IOWA.

DRIVING-GEAR FOR MOTOR-VEHICLES.

Specification of'LettersBatent. Patented Dec. 28, 1909.

Application filed June 14, 1909. Serial No. 502,074.

To all whom it may concern: l

Be it known that I, 'ALDoN R. CORRINGTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hartley, in the county of OBrien and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and use- .ful Improvements in 'Driving- Gear for Motor-Vehicles, .of which the following is a specification. I

This invention relates to friction transmission mechanism, and comprises particularly an improved mechanism for transmitting power from the engine to .the rear axle of an automobile.

.The invention is characterized particularly by a double drive, and the absence of a differentialgearing on thegrear axle. That is,

each axle section-is-driven by different .de- :mces to which motion, .however, IS transfrom a single-engine shaft, the transmission device .at each side being controlled.

bythe movement .of the front axle to increase or decrease the relative speeds of the .rear axle. sections, said increase being in pro- 7 portion to .the degree to which the front axle 'is turned, being etfectiveat all speeds to produce different motion of the rear axle sec- .tions. The gearingis furthermore provided with ,means whereby it may .be reversed, or the speed varied.

Further improvements in detail will be evident from the vfollowing description and the accompanying drawings.

.In the .draWiL1gS,.Eigure..1 is a plan view of the gearing,"parts being broken away; Fig. :2 is a .side elevation, parts being onntted; Fig. .3 is a detail of a swiveling rocker the manipulation of which controls thespeed and the differential action; Fig. 4 is a detail in plan of the: devices for controlling the friction drive; Fig. 5 is a detail in plan of the means for controlling the cone wheel between the driving Wheels.

. Referring specifically to the drawings, 1 is a cone friction wheel mounted upon the squared end of the engine shaft 30, .tl1e englne being indicated in diagram at 31. This cone wheel is mounted on the squared end of the .shaft, or by means of a key seat and key,

.so that it has slight longitudinalmovement,

.said movement being produced by the means .shownin Fig. 5,.consist'ing of afork32 .con-

uiecte'd to ailever v2 pivoted on the .frame 40 and connected to a pedal A .themaniprila .tion :of which throws thecone wheel in or the front crossbar of the frame 40.

the outer sides of the disk wheels 3 are plain frictionwheels 4 mounted upon a pair of shafts 5 carriedin hearings on the frame. The shafts are square so that the friction -\vl1els dean he slid along'the same, to either side of the center of the disk wheels, where- ".by the speed is varied andthe drive is reversed. The shafts .5 are respectively connected to s'ha'ft sections 5, which are in "turn connected to shaft sections 5*, in each in stance by universal joints 18, and the shaft sections 5" carry bevel gears 19 which mesh with the gears 19 on the rear shaft sections .20, the gearing being properly arranged to drive the shaft sections in the same direc' ,tion.

The shaft sections 5 are mounted for slightlateral motion to engage or disengage the wheels 1 from the disks. A preferred arrangement :is illustrated in Fig. at. The rear ends ,of the shafts ,are carried in boxes which have a slight pivotal motion, and thefrontends are carried inboxcs .18 which are slidable laterally to a limited extent on Movement is produced by means of a pedal B connected to the box 13 by a rod Z) and links 1 1 and 15 which are disposed at an acute angle to each other. When the pedal is pressed in one direction it tends to bring the links 14 and 15 into a straight line and to thereby draw the boxes 13 toward each other which has the effect of throwing the friction wheels 1 against the disks 3. Oppo- "site movement ofthe pedal tends to separate the boxes or 1110\1! them outwardly to disengage the friction gear. .The engine shaft Ifinds .a l1ear ing in the box .16 on the frame.

To manually vary the speed the frict on whels l are moved across the faces .of the disk wheels?) by means of-alever .50mountshaft to pass thereunder.

ed on one end of a rock shaft 51 which has a crank arm 52 connected'by a link 58 to an arm 9 projecting from the mlddle of a rock shaft 9, a balland socket joint being formed at 10 between the link 53 and the arm to allow a turning movement to be here after described. The rock shaft 9 is mounted in a bearing box 8 atthe middle thereof, and said shaft has arms 9 which are connected by links 6 to collars 55 which extend around necks formed on the hubs of the friction wheels 4. When the lever is shifted one way or the other the friction wheels 4 are moved accordingly across the faces of the disk wheels 3 and the speed is correspondingly varied or reversed. The friction wheels are dished slightly at the center, as indicated at 3*, so as to break the driving engagement when the wheels are on center. The joints between the crank arms 9 and the links 6 are ball and socket or uni- .versal joints, as indicated at 56.

To produce differential drive of the respective axle sections, according to the turn of the front or steering wheels the rock shaft 9 is connected at its'opposite ends by links 11 to the opposite ends of the front axle, or

rather to the steering knuckles at the ends thereof. Ball and socket joints are provided at-57 between the rear ends of the rods 11 and the ends of the rock shaft 9. The bearing box 8 at the middle of the rock shaft, is supported by a pivot stem 8 which is mounted on a yoke frame 7, in a middle vertical hearing at 61, said yoke frame being bolted to the frame 40 and having sufficient rise to allow the engine The pivot 8 is held by a nut 80. By means of this arrangement, when the steering wheels are turned the rock shaft 9 is turnedaccordingly, on its central pivot at 8, and by means of the links 6 andconnections the friction -"wheels 4 are shifted in correspondingly opposite directions, whereby the driven'speed of one shaft section is increased and that of the other decreased, and this is true irrespective of the position of the speed and re,-

verse lever 50. The differential driving speed thus produced is communicated to the rear axle sections, whereby the rear wheels are driven at different speeds and the vehicle will turn accordingly. I

It is to be observed that both rear wheels are positively driven under all conditions, either when going straight ahead or when turning, and this is a decided advantage over the result reached when a differential gearing between rear'axle sections is employed with a single drlve. The machine may be'stopped either by throwing the cone wheel 1 out ofgear or moving the frictionwheels 4 out of contact, or shifting said wheels 4 to central position. The length of the rock shaft 9 and its connections to the across the respective disks to .ference in speed necessary to enable the rear wheels to follow ,the curve produced by the steering wheels as the latterare turned.

The invention is not limited to the particular form shown. Especially the manipulating devices for the several parts may be changed, and various other modifications may be made within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

l.- In a motor vehicle, the combination of driven axle sections, a driving-shaft, separate intermediate shafts geared to the axle sections andto said shaft and parallel'to the latter, the gearing between the driving and intermediate shafts including friction wheels on the intermediate shafts and connected to the steering devices of the vehicle and shiftable thereby on said shafts to vary the speed of the respective intermediate shafts.

2. In a motor vehicle, the combination of driven axle sections, opposite flat-faced friction disks and means to drive the same, a pair of intermediate shafts geared to the axle sections and located at an angle'thereto and extending across the faces of said disks, and friction wheels mounted on said intermediate shafts and. manually slidable of the respective shafts, and means connected to and controlled by the steering devices of the vehicle to shift said friction wheels differentially according to the turn of the vehicle.

3. 'In a motor "ehicle, the combinationof driven axle sections, a pair of friction gears operatively connected to the sections respectively and located with their axes extending lengthwise of the vehicle means to drive said gears, a rock shaft extending across the vary the speed vehicle frame and connected at its opposite ends to the gears to shift the sameand pivotally mounted to swing laterally and steering devices for thevehicle connected to said rock shaft to swing the same and shift the gearsaccording to the turn of the vehicle;

4. In a motor vehicle, the combination of driven axle sections, a pair of friction gears operatively connected to the sections respectively and located with their axes at a right angle to that of the axle, means to drive said gears, a rock shaft extending across the vehicle parallel to the axle and connected at its opposite ends to the gears to shift the same and pivotally mounted to swing laterally, and steering devices for the vehicle, connected to said rock shaft to swing the same-and shift the gears according to the turn, of the. vehicle, and manually operated means toturn the rock shaft on its axis to vary the speed.

5. In a motor vehicle, the combination of drivengflaxle sections, intermediate} shafts slidablc friction wheels and arranged to geared at one'end to said sections (respecshiftthe same differentially according to the tively, a pair of friction disks located beturn of the vehicle. tween the other ends of said Shafts, friction In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature 5 wheels sidably' mounted on said shaffis an? i in presence of two witnesses. -arran e .to contact with the outer si es 0 i A T T v said isks, a drivin shaft, a friction'wheel 5 ALDO-h CORRD T mounted on the driving shaft. for contact Witnesses: with the inner sides of said disks, and steer- M. J. FRAMBACH, 10 ing devices for the vehicle, connected to said i G. E. KNAAcK. 

